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E. LESLIE. ROTARY EXOAVATOR FOR REMOVING SNOW. No. 380,809. Patented Apr. 10, 1888.

WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sh6et 2.

E. LESLIE. ROTARY EXGAVATOR FOR REMOVING SNOW.

No. 380,809 PatentedApr. 10, 1888.

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EDWVARD LESLIE, OF ORANGEVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA.

ROTARY EXCAVATOR FOR REMOVING SNOW.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,809, dated April 10, 1888.

Application filed August 31, 1887. Serial No. 248,367. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD LESLIE, of Oiangeville, in the county of Dut'ferin, Province of Ontario, and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Rotary Exca' vator for Removing Snow, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a rotary excavator for removing snow, for which United States Letters Patent N 0. 338,759, dated March 30, 1886, were granted to me.

The object of my present invention is to provide a new and improved excavator which very effectively and rapidly removes the snow from the track and prevents all clogging of the working parts.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts and details and combinations of the same, as hereinafter more fully described, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improve ment, parts being removed. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line a: 00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of one of the knives of the upper set of knives on the line y y of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a like view of one of the knives of the lower set of knives on the line .2 z of Fig. 1.

My improved excavator is mounted on a car,'on the forward end of which is fixed a cylindrical casing, A, provided in its front with a square hood, B, having flaring edges, which extend from the level of the track to a suitable height and at each side for a considerable distance, so as to form an opening through the snow large enough for the car to pass through. In suitable bearings on the car is placed a horizontal shaft, 0, which extends forward through the center of the casing A, and has upon its outer end a wheel, D, rotating in said casing A. The wheel D is provided with a hub, E, secured to said shaft 0, and on the inner end of the hub E is fastened the circular plate F, placed near the inner wall of the casing A, but not touching the same.

To the front of the hub E is secured a second hub, G, provided in front with the cone H, extending a suitable distance into the flaring hood B. From the hub G extend the spokes G, on which is secured a ring, I, and radial fans or wings J extend from'the front of said ring I to the inner disk, F, to which they are also secured. The front top ends of the fans J are covered by a ring, K, secured to said fans in any suitable manner.

Midway between each two successive fans, J, is placed a radial shaft or rod, L, secured by belts or other means to the rings I and K. On each shaft or nod L is held to swing aknife, N, provided with two Wings, N and N placed at angles to each other, as shown in Fig. 3. The edges of the knife-wings N and N extend radially in line with the respective fans J and rest against the same. It will be seen that when the knife edge of one wing of the knife N rests against its respective fan J then the knifeedge of' the other wing of said knife extends a suitable distance from its respective fan, so as to form an openinginto the interior of the wheel between the radial shaft or rod L and the outer edge of the respective fan J.

Between two successive spokes,G, of the hub G is placed a radial shaft or rod,O,secured by one end to said hub and by its other end to the ring I. On said shaft or rod 0 is held to turn a knife, 1?, similar in construction to the knife N, and provided with wings I? and P extending at angles to each other,so that when the radial cutting-edge of one wing rests against its respective spoke G then the cutting-edge of the other wing or knife, P, extends a suitable distance from its respective spoke G, thus forming an opening in the front of the wheel, which leads into the interior of the same, said opening extending from the shaft or rod 0 toward the respective spokes G.

As illustrated in the drawings, I have not quite as many knives P in the inner set as in the outer set. Instead of continuing the knives N to within a short distance of the hub G, I provide a second set of knives, 1?, which, in consequenceof there being only half the number in this set, are made larger in proportion. As illustrated, two outer knives are employed to one inner knife; but I may vary the relative number of the two sets, so that,for instance, I may use three outer knives to one inner knife, whereby I reach still farther to the front, and thereby increase the opening.

The operation is as follows: When the shaft is rotated in the direction of the arrow a, then the sets of knives N and P open their wings N and P, respectively, while the other wings, N and P, are closed and rest with the outer edge against the fan J or the spoke G, respectively. The snow thus passes into the opening formed by the wings of the set of knives N and P, and thesnow in the center of the hood B is pushed by the cone H up toward and into the opening formed by the lower set of knives, P. The snow, after entering the wheel D, is forced out of the same by the fan J into the spout Q, which leads the snow to one side of the railroad-track. \Vhen the motion of the shaft G is reversed, then the wings P and N of the knives N and P close, whereby the wings N and P are open, and the above operation is repeated in the same manner.

It will be seen that with my inner set of knives I provide a greater capacity for taking in the snow in the center of the wheel, at the same time gathering the snow which passes up the cone on the front hub.

The opening formed by the inner set of knives being greater than the opening at the inner edge of the outer knives, permits the wheel when rotated in the snow to bore out the center of the latter, thereby allowing the snow to contract from the flaring edges of the hood, thus relieving the latter from excessive strain, especially in hard-frozensnow.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In an excavator, a revolving wheel provided with radial fans, an outer set of knives, and an inner set of knives, both sets of knives being held in front of said wheel, substantially as described.

2. In an excavator, the combination, with a revolving wheel provided with radial fans and a cone in its center in front, of an outer set of knives held in front of said wheel and in front of the fans, and a second or inner set of knives forming an opening to the'inside of the wheel, substantially as shown and described.

3. In an excavator, the combination, with a revolving wheel provided with a hub carrying an inner disk, of a second hub fastened to the front of the first-mentioned hub, and having radial arms or spokes, a ring secured to said radial arms or spokes, radial fans secured to said ring and to said disk, an outer ring held in front of said fans, and two sets of knives, of which the outer set is held in front of said fans and the other set is held between the inner ring and the hub, substantially as described.

4. In an excavator, the combination, witlra revolving wheel provided with a hub carrying an inner disk, of a second hub fastened to the front end of the first-named hub and having radial arms or spokes, a ring secured-to said radial arms or spokes, radial fans secured to said ring andto said disk, an outer ring held in front of said fans, two sets of knives, of which the outer set is held in front of said fans and the other set is held between the inner ring and the hub, and a cone held in front of the second hub so that the snow from the center passesinto the inner set of knives, substantially as shown and described.

5. In an excavator, the combination, with a revolving wheel, of radial fans held on said wheel, an outer set of selfreversing knives held in front of said wheel and an inner set of self-reversing knives held similarly on the said wheel, substantially as described.

EDYVARD LESLIE.

Witnesses: THEO. G. I-Iosrnn, O. SEDGwIoK. 

